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Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business of Sports. The cold heart truth

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Speaker 1: about the Olympic journey is not really been financially incentivized

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Speaker 1: in the same way that many of the professional sports are.

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Speaker 1: But this is a basketball involved nb A, Blivills are

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Speaker 1: licensing arm think for fifty All of those things will

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Speaker 1: make up what that looks like money in sports. It's

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Speaker 1: one of the reasons why I enjoyed doing on Money

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Speaker 1: Night Countdown and talk about some of the more interesting

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Speaker 1: aspects of business of sports. When you're talking sports, discipline

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Speaker 1: is the bridge from being good to ultimately being great

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Speaker 1: at whatever it is that you're trying to be your

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Speaker 1: accomplished as your profession. Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello,

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Speaker 1: welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports, and we've got

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Speaker 1: another great guest, Katrina Adams, former chairperson and CEO of

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Speaker 1: U S t A and executive director of Harlem Junior

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Speaker 1: Tennis and Education Program. Katrina, thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Well, thank

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Speaker 1: you for having me. First off, I want to go

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Speaker 1: to the day. Yes, obviously you played pro tennis and

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Speaker 1: you were very very good those days compared to now

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Speaker 1: what's the difference. Well, I'd like to say I had

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Speaker 1: my moments back in the day, so thank you for that, UM.

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Speaker 1: But while I mean, you know, I think the sport

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Speaker 1: has elevated so much UM in the last couple of

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Speaker 1: decades physically, mentally, UM, It's it's grueling. It was grueling

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Speaker 1: when I was there, But just looking at the dynamics

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Speaker 1: and the quickness and the strength of the athletes today

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Speaker 1: versus when I was playing, is uh, it's far more

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Speaker 1: superior in my opinion. How did you go from being

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Speaker 1: a player to being in the structure of tennis? You know,

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Speaker 1: when I was on the tour, I really was very

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Speaker 1: interested UM and got involved on the political side, from

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Speaker 1: the w t A Tour Players Association being on their

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Speaker 1: board and then the w t A Tour Board UM.

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Speaker 1: And it was just something that I was always pulled

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Speaker 1: to and and so after I retired, I got involved

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Speaker 1: with the U s c A Board as an Elite

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Speaker 1: Athlete UM, which is a player that is within ten

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Speaker 1: years of retirement that has reached a certain ranking or

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Speaker 1: level UM of which I qualified for. And when I

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Speaker 1: joined the board and understood what the usc A was about,

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Speaker 1: and it was more about grassroots than at the top

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Speaker 1: of the game. Yes, we all in the US Open

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Speaker 1: and put on the best event in the world, but

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Speaker 1: it's really about putting rackets in people's hands, um, no

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Speaker 1: matter what their ages, and develop them, developing them, keeping

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Speaker 1: them in the sports. So that was gravitated to that

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Speaker 1: because I was once that child that started at the

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Speaker 1: age of six and moved up through the system and

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Speaker 1: the junior ranks, you know, high school, collegiate and then professional,

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Speaker 1: and I wanted to make a difference and and give

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Speaker 1: back and and and leave a you know, an available

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Speaker 1: mark on the sport if I could. Well, Katrina, I

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Speaker 1: think you're being far too modest. Twenty w t A

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Speaker 1: doubles titles, there's nothing to shake a stick at. I'm

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Speaker 1: wondering if you could help me understand. I mean, we've

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Speaker 1: got a lot of great players. You're in the U

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Speaker 1: s up and coming. I mean, uh, Coco Golf, you

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Speaker 1: know Taylor Fritz who just won Indian Wells back in March.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I'm wondering if you could just kind of

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Speaker 1: share with us your thoughts on the future of US tennis.

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Speaker 1: I mean, who's up and coming. I mean, he's gonna

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Speaker 1: win the next lamp. Wow. Well, I will say, you know,

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Speaker 1: coming off of the heels of the French Open in Paris,

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Speaker 1: I mean, what a what an unbelievable event. Um, you

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Speaker 1: know watching Rocks and the doll when his fourteen, Roland

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Speaker 1: Garrel's championship and the Eagle Fattech who's going to run? Um,

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Speaker 1: you know they are far, you know, at the top

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Speaker 1: of their games right now. But when you look at

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Speaker 1: our Americans, Hey, we got Cocoa Golf. It just got

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Speaker 1: to our first Grandson finals. She's someone that we've been

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Speaker 1: talking about the last couple of years. She's still only eighteen,

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Speaker 1: so definitely has an opportunity to to do well. Um

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Speaker 1: at the upcoming you know US Open, there's Womblan in

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Speaker 1: between um with Danielle Collins, Um, Jessica Pagoula. I mean,

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Speaker 1: our our Americans are are rising and rising, Fatch Shelby Rogers.

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Speaker 1: So all these young ladies are doing a great job

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Speaker 1: in their performance right now, and in any of them

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Speaker 1: have an opportunity to move forward. On the men's side,

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Speaker 1: you know, we're looking at a young Seti quartera Sebastian

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Speaker 1: Quarter who's the son of two former professional tennis players

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Speaker 1: and Peter and Regina quarter and I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: looking at him develop he's still filling out. U a

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Speaker 1: great opportunity. Francis Siafo who's getting back on his game

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Speaker 1: and doing well. Taylor Fritz, you know, a huge hardcore player,

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Speaker 1: one Indian wells earlier this year. I think we are

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Speaker 1: we have a nice pool Um to pull from on

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Speaker 1: both the men and the women's side. Those are some

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Speaker 1: incredible athletes that you just listed, Um. I want to

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Speaker 1: mention one of them who is not American but obviously

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Speaker 1: is in the spotlight because of her accomplishments on the court.

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Speaker 1: In France. Us we Attack just won her thirty fifth match.

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Speaker 1: Um won the friend Open. Of of course, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you've seen the news stories about how she was asked

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Speaker 1: by a reporter after winning the French Open. One technical

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Speaker 1: question and one that wasn't technical. The technical question is

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Speaker 1: what is your best shot? Is it the forehand or

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Speaker 1: is it your down the line backhand? What do you think?

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Speaker 1: That was the first question. The second question had nothing

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Speaker 1: to do with tennis, and it started with outside of

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Speaker 1: the court, when you go to a party, do you

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Speaker 1: use makeup? Do you like to go elegant and smart

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Speaker 1: and so on. What did you think when you heard that?

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Speaker 1: To be honest with me, I'm just now here hearing it,

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Speaker 1: So I will give you my immediate risks. I think,

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Speaker 1: first of all, that's absurd. Um. You know, listen, I

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Speaker 1: I get. I like the fact that we're trying to

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Speaker 1: think outside of the box and and ask more personal questions,

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Speaker 1: more fun questions, so that people really get to understand

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Speaker 1: these athletes off the court. UM. But I think when

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Speaker 1: you're addressed in a female athlete like that, you know,

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Speaker 1: what are you implying? What are you saying? Are you

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Speaker 1: saying that I need to wear makeup or you know?

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Speaker 1: Or is it just about are you interested in the

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Speaker 1: sexy look that I have? So I don't I don't

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Speaker 1: really think that was a nice um question, um, particularly

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Speaker 1: now with the way you know, mental health is so

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Speaker 1: huge in athletics and and just in human society in particular,

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Speaker 1: and you never know how that's going to trigger a

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Speaker 1: young woman, UM to make her think about beyond the interview. UM,

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Speaker 1: why did you ask that question? That it makes no

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Speaker 1: sense to me in what I'm doing here and what

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Speaker 1: I've just accomplished. So UM, So I'm disappointed in the question.

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Speaker 1: But I, on the other hand, I can understand someone

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Speaker 1: just trying to think outside of the box. If that

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Speaker 1: was their intent, and hopefully that was the intent. That's

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Speaker 1: a very charitable way of putting in. I don't think

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Speaker 1: Michael Bardmon Sasser where it's quite so forgiving of the

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Speaker 1: thinking behind the question. But just for the record, Ega

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Speaker 1: said as her response, Okay, thank you. Well, I'm wearing

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Speaker 1: a hat so I don't have to worry about my hair.

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Speaker 1: That's the most positive thing. I don't wear makeup because

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Speaker 1: I don't feel like I have I kind of have to.

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Speaker 1: And also I don't think that will change something. Also,

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Speaker 1: it's going to come off when I use a towel.

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Speaker 1: So she brought it back to sports. I'm just gonna

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Speaker 1: say I get it, and I'm just gonna say what

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Speaker 1: we all better be thinking. That was a stupid question.

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Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna know now this. You just won

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Speaker 1: the French Open and that's the question you get. Yeah. Also,

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Speaker 1: to be fair, Ega also said that the question was

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Speaker 1: hard to answer given that it was not in her

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Speaker 1: pr brief, so she did not shy away from the

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Speaker 1: fact that it was like where is where on earth

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Speaker 1: is this question coming from? Yeah? Absolutely, and that's said.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's it's you're you're you just won

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Speaker 1: the French Open, and so I'm here to talk about

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Speaker 1: tennis and what I'm doing. Yeah, you can come up

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Speaker 1: with it out of the box question. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's that's a bit personal and and and you know

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Speaker 1: I said earlier offensive in the light of the situation.

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Speaker 1: We're not talking about where I'm going to party or

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Speaker 1: what I look like when I go out to party,

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Speaker 1: if I if I party at all. All right, let

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Speaker 1: me keep with the thing to show you how I

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Speaker 1: hate that question. If you were a spoon, what kind

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Speaker 1: of spoon would you? I mean, I don't. I cannot

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Speaker 1: understand that you won the French Open and this is

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Speaker 1: what you get you talk to me about. Okay, what

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Speaker 1: was the where was the tough part? What's a talk

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Speaker 1: about your opponent? I admire the maturity in her response. Well,

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Speaker 1: she's way more mature than I am, because I I'd

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Speaker 1: have been like, You've got to be kidding. So so

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Speaker 1: let me let me calm down and let me bring

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Speaker 1: it to another point. Uh, because the US Open is

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Speaker 1: is kind of right around the corner and I and

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Speaker 1: I think about and I was watching TV and there's

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Speaker 1: a special documentary that's out there with Arthur Ash and

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Speaker 1: obviously one of the greatest tennis players out there and

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Speaker 1: one of the early tennis players African American who was

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Speaker 1: out there, and uh, he changed the sport. And I

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Speaker 1: just want to get your thoughts about Arthur Ash and

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Speaker 1: what do you think about it. Well, obviously Arthur ashe

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Speaker 1: was one of our greatest tennis players that we had,

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Speaker 1: both on and off the court, a great humanitarian. He

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Speaker 1: really stood up for what he believed in. Um. It

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Speaker 1: was about equal rights, equality and he just had the

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Speaker 1: utmost integrity from you know, I've had an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: have met him um a few times when I was younger. UM.

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Speaker 1: But he's also someone who's missed. I mean, I grew

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Speaker 1: up watching him. He was the first professional tennis match

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Speaker 1: I saw was him playing the finals of the nine

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Speaker 1: Wimbledon Championships against Jimmy Connors, and and then watching him

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Speaker 1: Paul Wimbledon years later on HBO and all the other

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Speaker 1: things that he did. But you know, he was just

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Speaker 1: such a gentleman and just did everything right in people's eyes. Um,

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Speaker 1: and he didn't shy from from speaking up and speaking out.

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Speaker 1: I mean, he had so much courage um to do

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Speaker 1: what he did, you know, and fighting and speaking up

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Speaker 1: against the part side and so many other things. And

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Speaker 1: so he's definitely someone on the Smiths. But I think

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Speaker 1: his memory what he stood for when he represented has

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Speaker 1: stood strong, continues to be strong, and not only our

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Speaker 1: sport but in society today. Well, Katrina, I mean you

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Speaker 1: mentioned Wimbledon, and that is certainly right around the corner.

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Speaker 1: And one of the things that stands out to me

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Speaker 1: in the wake of what's going on with Putin's war

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Speaker 1: in Ukraine is that the w t A UM has

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Speaker 1: basically stripped the event of ranking points this year. And

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Speaker 1: we know what that means for Medvedev, for for for Djokovic,

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Speaker 1: for some of their you know, I mean, Djokovic might

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Speaker 1: lose his top ranking as a men's single. So you know,

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Speaker 1: my question for you is do you agree with the

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Speaker 1: stance that the w t A has taken on this.

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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously you've got people thinking that, you know,

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Speaker 1: it was good to band players from Belarus and Russia,

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Speaker 1: was not so good to sing allowed certain players. I'm

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Speaker 1: just curious where you stand on that. Well, first of all,

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Speaker 1: it's both tours, the A t P which is a

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Speaker 1: men's tour and the w t A the women's tour,

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Speaker 1: who have done that, UM. And you know, our tours

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Speaker 1: were built on the premises of equality and treating everybody

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Speaker 1: the same. So from a player's perspective, you know, they

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Speaker 1: don't think that it's right for the players who are

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Speaker 1: unable to play based on where they're from, UM, to

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Speaker 1: have a disadvantage to the other players who can play

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Speaker 1: and you know, improve their ranking. UM. In this situation,

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Speaker 1: it's uh, you know, it's six in one hand and

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Speaker 1: half a dozen in the other. But this is basically

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Speaker 1: these decisions were based on integrity and more moral values

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Speaker 1: UM that the tours have. The I t S has

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Speaker 1: done the same, so their solidarity and what has been

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Speaker 1: done UM. This is obviously it's not just the Wimbledon situation.

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Speaker 1: That was a United Kingdom um. Uh reprimand if you will,

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Speaker 1: and Wimbledon had to you know, I mean it's a

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Speaker 1: government decision which which fell on the shoulders of Wimbledon.

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Speaker 1: So it's unfortunate. I think politics should stay out of sports,

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Speaker 1: UM at all costs. And you know, sports or what

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Speaker 1: really bring people together and not separate them. And um,

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Speaker 1: and we're just in a tough situation right now. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think you make a great point. I mean, I think,

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Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, they had offered, you know, some

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Speaker 1: of them, the Russian players, the ability is sign a

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Speaker 1: declaration or something along that night, you know, saying hey

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Speaker 1: we're you know, we're not really from Russia or whatever

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Speaker 1: it needed to say. But the idea is, how could

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Speaker 1: you ask a player to do that? I mean, they

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Speaker 1: could put their very livelihood and their families at risk,

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Speaker 1: right absolutely, and so that this was the safest This

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Speaker 1: is the safest thing to do for these players. UM.

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Speaker 1: You know, you can't ask anybody to to to sign,

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Speaker 1: you know, an affidavit or whatever that you don't support

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Speaker 1: the war or your president or whatever that might be. UM.

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Speaker 1: I mean just imagine ramifications that that could come that

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Speaker 1: could stem from that. UM. So it's it's a tough situation.

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Speaker 1: It's really unfortunate. UM. And you know, the championships will

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Speaker 1: go on, the players will you know, it will be

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Speaker 1: a lot said I'm sure during the event. UM, but

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Speaker 1: I just feel for for all the players, you know,

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Speaker 1: first of all I feel for the Ukraine as a whole. Um.

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Speaker 1: I have Ukrainian friends, I have people that were there

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Speaker 1: that were able to get out, um, and so you know,

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Speaker 1: my thoughts and prayers are with Ukraine on a daily basis.

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Speaker 1: But you know, when you look at the sport and

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Speaker 1: the athletes, it's just unfortunate as to what's coming down

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Speaker 1: on the Ukrainian players, the pressure that they're under, and

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Speaker 1: the Russian and Belarussian players as a whole. You have

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Speaker 1: so many noble hurdles and you have done something and

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Speaker 1: doing it right now. As the executive director of Harlem

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Speaker 1: Junior Tennis and Education program, can you talk to us

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Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, I've been the event of director for

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Speaker 1: sixteen years and so it's not something that I ever

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Speaker 1: thought that I would be doing. But when I got

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Speaker 1: the call, you know, sixteen years ago, UM, I thought

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Speaker 1: it was something that was near and dear to my heart. Um.

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Speaker 1: It was a program at the time that was really

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Speaker 1: struggling and about to go under, if you will, and

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Speaker 1: they took a chance on me. Um. I had not

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Speaker 1: run a program before, but I grew up in a

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Speaker 1: program very similar to this in Chicago, so I understood

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Speaker 1: the importance of it. Uh, the heart and and passion

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Speaker 1: immediately went into making sure that I could do the

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Speaker 1: best that I could to make sure that these kids

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Speaker 1: had an opportunity to thrive in a sport and and

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Speaker 1: and learn the life skills that are necessary to become

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Speaker 1: champions in life as as well as tennis. Um. We

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Speaker 1: are celebrating fifty years. We're in our fiftieth anniversary. Are

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Speaker 1: are gala? Actually it's next Monday, June thirteen, UM, and

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Speaker 1: you know, in hopes some raising at least a million

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Speaker 1: dollars UH this year to continue to support our efforts

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Speaker 1: and take us forward, you know, for decades to come.

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Speaker 1: So these kids, the majority of them are coming from

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Speaker 1: central Harlem. We do service youth from across the metropolitan

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Speaker 1: area because not only are we developing players from grassroots,

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Speaker 1: but our our kids go on to you know, playing sections,

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Speaker 1: Sectionals and Nashville and earned college scholarships. So we are

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Speaker 1: a competitive component. We have a competitive component as well,

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Speaker 1: and which attracts other kids from around the city. UM.

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Speaker 1: So it's a it's a labor of love and UM.

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Speaker 1: You know, to know that we're standing strong and tall

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Speaker 1: after fifty years is remarkable and of course that fifty

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Speaker 1: year anniversaries on June. I wanted to get your take,

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Speaker 1: Katrina on King Richard, which, of course Will Smith won

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Speaker 1: the Best Actor for award for Um, did you see

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Speaker 1: it and what did you think of it? How much

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Speaker 1: did it resonate with your experience or the experience of

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Speaker 1: others that you know? Yeah, No, I did see it. Um,

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Speaker 1: I saw it in previews. I thought it was fantastic

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Speaker 1: and mean. Knowing Venus and Serena and having known them

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Speaker 1: since they were about nine and eleven and knowing their story, UM,

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Speaker 1: I thought it was well done. I thought it it spoke.

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Speaker 1: It really brought a light a light to their life. Um. Overall,

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Speaker 1: it took away a lot of the speculation over the

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Speaker 1: years because you know, people always said, oh that this

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Speaker 1: couldn't have happened. They couldn't have There's no way that

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Speaker 1: they could have succeeded and accomplished all the things that

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Speaker 1: they've done based on what they say. They where they

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Speaker 1: grew up, and so it was on the big screen

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Speaker 1: for everyone to see and understand that this was their life,

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Speaker 1: this is these are the challenges and obstacles that they

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Speaker 1: had growing up. This is what you know Richard and

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Speaker 1: Orsen did the sacrifices that they made, UM to make

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Speaker 1: these girls the champions that they were and still are.

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Speaker 1: And so as I was watching the movie, I saw

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Speaker 1: I didn't see the characters that were playing them. I

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Speaker 1: literally saw the Williams in everything that they endured. And

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Speaker 1: so I applaud the script, the story, UM, the success

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Speaker 1: of it and UM and and think it's you know,

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Speaker 1: it's something that people really need to understand that you

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Speaker 1: can overcome anything if you if you believe in it,

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Speaker 1: and and you you say the course and say the path,

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Speaker 1: you know you can you can dig your way out

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Speaker 1: of a hole if you will. Did you relate to

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Speaker 1: it personally? UM? I wouldn't say personally. My life was not. UM,

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Speaker 1: you know, it wasn't the same lifestyle that they had.

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Speaker 1: You know, they're from Compton. I'm from Chicago, so the

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Speaker 1: challenges and obstacles were different. But yeah, I mean I

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Speaker 1: grew up in the inner city of the West Side

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Speaker 1: of Chicago and definitely had my own challenges, but but

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Speaker 1: nothing to the extent of what they had. UM. You know,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't you know, I didn't really receive over racism. UM.

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Speaker 1: When I was growing up and playing in in my tournaments,

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Speaker 1: even when I was the only one. If I did,

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Speaker 1: my my parents are the ones that received it and

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Speaker 1: kept it from me. But I've never seen or heard,

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Speaker 1: uh any situation from my parents that that was that Mr.

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Speaker 1: Williams and Mrs Williams were put under during those times.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I mean they're in l A. And

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Speaker 1: you think about the history of tennis, the success of

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Speaker 1: tennis players in Los Angeles and Southern cal the country

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Speaker 1: clubs that are out there. You know, it's very, very

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Speaker 1: different to see, you know, Williams family walking in to

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Speaker 1: these these places to to train and play and compete.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have that experience in Chicago, and I was

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Speaker 1: very fortunate. I mean, you were a president of the

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Speaker 1: United States Tennis Association. But tennis has obviously gone global.

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Speaker 1: It's an international sport without you know, really compare, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I wonder if you can't just help me

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Speaker 1: get my arms around some of the things and some

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Speaker 1: of the concerns that center around China. Right obviously we

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Speaker 1: know about Pin Shuai, and you know, all the stuff

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Speaker 1: that's gone on there is that behind us. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I know, China hosted nine w t A tournaments in

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Speaker 1: the season with about thirty million dollars in prize money.

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Speaker 1: They've not hosted much since. I mean, I'm curious what

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Speaker 1: your thoughts are about China about it re emerging on

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Speaker 1: the international stage as it relates to tennis. Well, I mean,

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Speaker 1: the w t A has made it very clear that

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Speaker 1: until things change in China on the human rights issues,

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Speaker 1: that they have withdrawn their tournaments, you know, all of

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Speaker 1: twenty one two surrounding the punch Way situation. And so

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Speaker 1: that is a decision from the w t A that

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Speaker 1: I'm not involved with, but it is you know, it

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Speaker 1: is a global sport and then you know, with the

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Speaker 1: success of players like Lenin in the early two thousand's,

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Speaker 1: you know, the Chinese players were definitely emerging involving Jane

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Speaker 1: last week did a great job at Roland Garrows. And

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Speaker 1: you know, these are individuals who are playing a sport

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Speaker 1: that is their lifeline and they're working hard to be

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Speaker 1: the best that they can be. And again at best

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Speaker 1: dated earlier. You know, it's unfortunate that politics comes into

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Speaker 1: play and the mix with sport that makes it challenging,

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Speaker 1: and so the decision as that are made on the

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Speaker 1: business side is what it is, um you know. I

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Speaker 1: I pray for the safety and the opportunities for for

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Speaker 1: young not only just the young women, but the young

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Speaker 1: boys that are there playing our sports, the sport for

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Speaker 1: a lifetime. It's a great sport and who knows where

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Speaker 1: the future, what the future holds when it comes to

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Speaker 1: these professional events. Returning to China, Katrina Adams, former chairperson

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Speaker 1: and CEO of U s t A and executive director

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Speaker 1: of Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program, you were so

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Speaker 1: kind to come and join us, and thank you for

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Speaker 1: putting up with me to watch an eyeball pop out

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Speaker 1: of my head when I hear a stupid question and

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Speaker 1: I appreciate from his forehead, I could see it. I

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Speaker 1: could see, thank you, thank you, thank you. It was

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Speaker 1: a pleasure. It was a lot of fun. And uh,

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Speaker 1: I appreciate the support of this great sport of tennis.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for everything. My pleasure. So nice talking to

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Speaker 1: you like bye bye. This has been the Bloomberg Business

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Speaker 1: of Sports podcast. We explore some of the big money

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Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports and you can catch

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Speaker 1: our podcast Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm Michael Barrow on

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Speaker 1: Twitter at Big Bar Sports. I'm Scarlet Flu. You can

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Speaker 1: find me on Twitter at Scarlett Fulan dog Demuta, So

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Speaker 1: you can find me on Twitter at Hey don't forget.

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Speaker 1: By the way, you can catch our podcast wherever you

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Speaker 1: download this baby. That's the way we roll.